Tommy Bahama Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Phoenix

This was my first time at Tommy Bahamas and I went for brunch with my mom and sister. The restaurant definitely has a cool Caribbean beach vibe and they had a really wonderful patio with a steel drum player, which was really nice. That said, I’m feeling very mixed about the meal and overall service that I experienced. I don’t feel that it matched the price and feel a bit disappointed overall.

We started with the coconut shrimp, not pictured, and that was absolutely fantastic. If I come back, I definitely would order that again. It had a perfect crunchy, coconut shell that paired perfectly with the mango salsa.

While the menu has a lot of very creative options, especially for seafood lovers, the brunch menu was very thin on anything for the sweet side of brunch. It catered much more to the savory side.

I had the beef fillet and eggs and was very unimpressed by the meal. I thought it was overpriced for the small piece of overcooked filet (had was med-rare and the other half was med-well) that I received. I liked the chimichurri that topped it, which seemed to be the only flavor for the meat. The potatoes and the eggs were absolutely under seasoned. They didn’t have any salt and pepper on the table, and I needed to request it. Because it felt like the food had no seasoning whatsoever.

My sister had the Aji tuna tacos that is served in a wonton shell. She absolutely raved about the flavor. However, she was frustrated in that when you bid into the she’ll it completely crumbles apart, and you have to end up eating the taco with a fork.

My mom ended up getting the artichoke salad, which I had a few bites of as well, and that was delicious and was very flavorful.

We splurged and got three desserts. The Piña colada cake was absolutely our favorite and would order again and again. It was such a light cake and had a delicate filling. It was a flavor bomb that tasted absolutely divine and we all agreed we would stop in the restaurant just for a slice of that cake. Our next favorite was the Key lime pie. It was the right amount of tartness and I loved the crust. The pineapple crème brûlée is definitely a showstopper dessert. Crème brûlée is my favorite dessert and it really did not disappoint at all. It was a great flavor, and I liked the chopped caramelized pineapple underneath the custard. However, I felt that the cake and the pie were overall better than the pineapple crème brûlée.

The service was a bit of a letdown. Drinks were very slow and coming. We got our appetizer before our drinks were even served. I had ordered an iced tea and it was never refilled, and it was hard to find the server. When our desserts were brought, we needed to ask for utensils. For the amount that the food cost I was very disappointed that the service wasn’t better.

I may be tempted to try the restaurant again for dinner, but I’m in no rush to do so. Overall, we had a great time and much of the food was very good. But I just thought for the cost it didn’t live up...

This is by far one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had. Don’t come here if you want to celebrate a birthday or anything special.

First of all, I reserved a table weeks in advance and marked that I’m celebrating a birthday (my mom’s), and a significant one at that. We get to the restaurant and the waters we ask for are room temp - in 108 degree Arizona summer. We asked why there isn’t ice and the waiter (John) said it’s a new restaurant protocol that they aren’t serving ice with water automatically anymore, even joking in this Arizona heat. We had to ask for ice water. After, I noticed 95% of the tables were brought a chilled bottle of water for the table, but we never got one.

Second, they don’t serve bread as a starter here. We noticed some tables had bread but just bread isn’t on the menu. So either we weren’t served the bread, or you have to pay extra, not sure.

Third, the service was far below par and the time it took to receive 3 entrees, eat, and finally wait for the bill, took 1.5 hrs. We didn’t order anything else. The waiter checked on us maybe twice the whole time between putting in our order and leaving. It took at least 30 min between the time we stopped eating for the waiter to realize we were done and needed the bill.

Fourth, not only did I write down in my reservation that I was there to celebrate a birthday, I said it in front of the waiter and he even wished my mom a happy birthday twice. They either did not give us a celebratory dessert or this restaurant generally does not give you one. So if you want to even celebrate a birthday or something special, this is not the place. They couldn’t give a rat’s ash.

Fifth, I went to bathroom before our meal and was asked by a staff member if I had eaten yet. I didn’t think she was speaking to me, but she asked me again and I said no. This was a very strange interaction as I’ve never been asked, in a bathroom nonetheless, if I had eaten yet. But the answer was no, because after waiting 30 min already after ordering we went to bathroom, came back, and we STILL didn’t get our food for another 5-10 min after.

The food was good, which was the ONLY good thing about this place. Which for $31-85 a plate, it very well should be.

All in all, I will not come back here unless they make some major changes. I will NEVER come back to celebrate a birthday. I’m much better off going to OLIVE GARDEN to get free bread and free dessert at half the cost. and And if I ever crave the pasta again, I’ll order takeout and save myself the tip on the...

Hmmm, where to start? We were lied to by the hostess after making a reservation. I requested a quiet table for our anniversary a few weeks ago. With about half the restaurant empty, we were sat in the middle. When we asked for a better table, pointing out several open ones. We were told they are for 5 or 6 people only. It was the same size table and some of them were still empty when we left. She couldn't smile and looked very sleepy with messy hair.

After being seated at an undesirable table, it was 5 minutes before anyone came to the table, and it was even longer before we were asked about what we'd like as she had to take off. She only came to the table after 5 minutes to tell us to wait some more.

When she arrived she took our order and brought us our initial drink order. A very very strong pina colada. My wife usually has two drinks at dinner but couldn't because she was too tipsy. She gave me a sip, it tasted like a shot of rum... way too strong.

Our waitress never checked on our food and worse, the kitchen sent it out on a chipped plate. Whoever plated the dish didn't care, the food runner didn't care, and the waitress was absent, meaning she didn't care to check. When we mentioned it to someone and asking how this made it to the floor, just a glazed look, no apology. I really hope that dish was thrown away.

We ordered dessert when our waitress returned which was after our plates were taken, and my drink had been empty for awhile.

Poor service = slow and unattentive, overpour on drink = no balance and instead of selling two..., no manager visible, chipped plates, nobody checking on us, bad hostess. She left right after we were seated and someone a bit more competent took over. We even saw her move another couple to a different table when requested and not feed them a lie.

Disappointing to say the least.

My crusted chicken was delicious but my wife's salmon had a lot of bones and was not enjoyable. Overcooked, dry, boney.

Happy anniversary honey. I'm sorry about that. I used to go here years ago and thought it would be great. She had never been there and doesn't want to go back. I think it's better to just sit at the bar. Service will be better.

UPDATE: The Manager left a message on my review, and a phone number to call. I called but there was no answer. I left a message on June 4th. There's been no attempt to call me back. Maybe all the responses by the manager are just for show,? There's no follow through so it's an empty gesture no? Not sure...